Kate Griffin (2) (1986–)

Inexplicably long-winded. If you like heavily descriptive prose — so much so that the book is 524 pages long when it could have easily been half of that — you'll love A Madness of Angels.

And don't get me wrong. I thought the prose was essential in the nature of Matthew and the angel's personalities. Especially given the concept of urban magic and the important of everything around us.

But really, it dragged. It took me quite a while to finish this novel, but I was satisfied with the plot, characters, and ending well enough.… (mehr)

Even though Kate Griffin is writing this sequel series in the same universe as that of Matthew Swift (Midnight Mayor, electric blue angels, sorcerer of Londn) she tells a starkly different story within the magical confines of London through the medium of Sharon Li, shaman (in training). Unlike Swift, who is a lone wolf at heart, Li's shamanic nature urges her to seek out a tribe, creating eventially the self-help group (of sorts) for those of a magically afflicted nature. As expected with any support group, she is inundated with the strange, the almost, the trouble of London's magical community, which ends up being extremely effective as a means to the storytelling. Each strange and unique character provides somehting necessary to the story, whether it is the unwitting brute force of Gretel (a bridge troll with a penchant for takeout), the comedic sarcasm of Kevin (a germaphobic vampire), or the unexpected ralling point of Rhys (a hay-fever plagued almost-druid). Alongside Sharon this motel crew is tasked with finding the disappeared Lady of 4am (Greydawn), whose Dog is plaguing the city in revenge, and with taking on a green-driven wending who has learned to play on the money-driven nature of London's financiers. We have some interactions of the Midnight Mayor, because being within London and being another of the magically inclined he has unwittingly become part of Sharon's tribe, but it is undoubtedly Sharon's unique force of will that drives this story. I won't reveal the outcome, but let's just say that we're very much looking forward to the next book in the series (and feeling a touch sad that there are only two books...)… (mehr)

As if Griffin/Webb needed to do any better than with the astounding first novel in this series, but somehow she managed to one up herself in this second book in the story of Matthew Swift and the Electric Blue Angels. She delves ever deeper into the magic of London, this time focusing on the inate powers of the city itself and specifically the persona of the Midnight Mayor (and his accompanying dragons). For those of us who understand the allure and power of the world that lives hidden in the shadows that the daylight-blinded of humanity never notice the concept of a Midnight Mayor fits perfectly with urban magical lore, and is even more perfect in his/its role as the protector of one of the world's oldest and greatest cities. I don't think that we could have asked for a better sequel to a Madness of Angels (which had Matthew break with his roots), since this book firmly re-establishes his (and the angels') place in the reconfigured almost-sorcerer-free city of London with new responsibilities and new challenges.… (mehr)